Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said that “the Russian language should disappear from our territory as an element of enemy propaganda and brainwashing for our population.”

• As you know, Russians are imposed that the Ukrainian nation, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian culture deserve to be destroyed as phenomena incompatible with the Russian “national idea”. And this serves as a justification for the war and all the crimes of the Russian authorities. But instead of exposing this delusion, representatives of our government reflect it.
• Russian is spoken not only by Putins and Solovyovs - it is the language of millions of Ukrainians, including those who fight against Russian imperialism. Russian has a significant meaning for many of those living under occupation. Denying these people the right to speak their native language leads to the alienation of a significant part of society. Thus, Danilov does not prevent Russian propaganda, but contributes to it. We categorically condemn such statements. Russian-speaking does not mean pro-Russian!
• Recall that the situation in which a group of persons is subjected to restriction of rights on linguistic grounds falls under the definition of discrimination (Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine “On Principles of Prevention and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine”). According to Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the free development of all languages of national minorities of Ukraine is guaranteed in Ukraine.

Therefore... hate speech must disappear from our territory as an element of hostile propaganda and brainwashing for our population.

Chauvinism - NO!

Solidarity - YES!

Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement) Ukraine

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